Self-locking seal.



H. M. COOPER.

SELF LOCKING SEAL.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 2. 1915.

Patented Nov. 16, 1915.

COLUMBIA PLANDCIRAPH cim. WASHINGTON. n. c.

e Tar rm f nAnnY ML iooornrt, or oAKrARK, ILLINoIs.

menses.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that LI-IARRYA M. COOPER, a

citizen of the United States, and resident of Oak Park, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Self-Locking Seals, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to seals, and more particularly to such as may be employed as tell-tale devices adapted to show whether the articles to which they'are secured have been tampered with; and in that general class it relates more particularly to such as have interlocking elements for giving the device its sealing character. Y r

The general object ofs eals' of this class is to show whether the car doors, vehicles, .or any relatively movable or separable parts, or packages sealed therebyhave been opened or tampered with.

The principal object of the present improvements is to provide a device whereby seal which, not being practically susceptible of being picked or unlocked, becomes so mutilated when opened by breaking strains as to render the tampering obvious to the casual inspector and also preventing the seal thereafter from performing its sealing function. I Other objects and advantages will appear hereinafter. I a

In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of a seal providing the advantages hereinabove pointed out, in which drawings Figure 1 shows the device complete as when in use; Fig. 2 is a'face view of the blank from which the seal is made; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view of the housing of the seal partially bent or folded and scored for weakening the same; Fig. 4 is a fragmentary perspective of the hook end of the seal on an enlarged-scale; F ig; 5-is a broken, me-

. well shown in Fig. 7. Before SELF-LOCKING sEAL.

I Specification of Letters Patent. Pgfijqgntd N v 16, 191 Application filed m 2, 1915.

Serial No. 37,697. I

dial, longitudinal section of the device, the hook end belngshown in full; Fig.;6 is a fragmentary'medial section showing the locked ends of the seal after breaking strains is a transverse section through have been brought to bear upon it, the parts being only partially separated.

The blank 10 is ordinarily formed of thin and flexible material, suitably. tin plate. The housing end has body portions 11 and 12 adapted to form side walls of the box or housing, these portions having respectively the wingsor ears ll and 12 adapted to be folded. interlockingly upon each other, as the side walls are thus locked together, however, the portion 13 is folded through an angle of 180 on the line ab (Fig. 2) and the projecting portion 14 is turned up substantially at right angles to the portion 13 on the line c-.cZ of Fig. 2, as shown in the sectional views. The body portion 11 is stamped up or indented transversely, as at 15, to provide a recess toxaccommodate the outer end portion of the projecting part 14 andhold the same securely against pulling strains brought to bear upon it. The portion 14 thus constitutes a transverse wall within the box or housing. This transverse wall 14 may be further held against normal pulling strains when the device is in use by the small tabs or wings 17 which are folded overupon the wall 14, as shown in F ig. 3. The wall 14 has the aperture 18 to receive the locking means provided at the other end ofthe strip. By cutting the wings12 and 13 on an angle substantially as illustrated in Fig. 2 the box or housing is deeper at one end than at the other, as illustrated, by which construction the opening 20 of the housing adapted to receive the hook end of the device may be only deep enough to admit that end portion while the inner compartment 21may be deep enough to permit the hooks to spread relatively widely after passing through the opening 18. p

In my preferred construction the hook end of the'device is preferably slotted or cut longitudinally, as at 22, and the portions 23 thus formed are preferably bent in opposite directions to form the hooks 23 one of these hooks lying on one side of the V strip11O,"the"other lyingon the other side.

The hooks 23 are formedto lie away from 'Ithe'planeof the strip so that when they are passing through the opening 18 they will be forced toward the plane of the strip at the hooks, and after passing through the opening 18 they will spring away from the plane of the strip there and interlock with the wall 14, asillustrated ;in Fig. 6, thus 7 locking the hook end of the device securely withinthe housing. In thisconnection it is pointed out that the endwall 24: of the housing is quite close to the extremities 25 of the hooks respectively, which provision" is important'in preventing thestripfrom be- W ,ing forced farther into thB'bOX or housing than is practically sufticientto enable the hooks 23? to become interlocked, thus'increasing the difiiculty .of picking the seal. A transverse crimp orbend 26 is formed in the hook end 'portionwhereby the opening .20 of the housing. issubstantially filled when the endsare interlocked and it is thus made practically impossible for one to insert tool for releasin the hooks 23 7 When the seal thus formed is locked .and strong .pull- 2 in-g strains are brought to. bear upon it, as

" terial is formed about the opening 18 making a head of upset and overlapped material which cannot be drawn through the opening 18, and breakage of the metal must occur in order to separate the two 'endsofthe seal.

In order to avoid unauthorized breakage and. the subsequent insertion of the broken end within'the housing to preserve the sem blance of a seal unbroken I cut or score preferably the body portion 11 contiguous to the strip portion 10 as at 30, thus weakening the side wall 11 at" that place so that when strains insuflicient to. break thehooks 23 are brought to bear upon thedevice a portion of the wall 11 will be'broken out and torn away from the rest of the device, as partially illustrated in Fig. 8. When' so broken the outer and visible portions of the seal are so mutilated that the most casual inspection will readily reveal any attempt to conceal the breakage, and with the wall 11 thusbroken outthe sealing function of the device is destroyed. The scoring or cutting, as at v30, maybe donefby meanso-f a sharp stamping- .tool, severing the metal partially but leaving it strong enough to withstand rather severe strains, The directions and extent of such cutting or weakening may be varied. The wall 11 where socut, however, is weaker than the hook or hooks interlocked with the wall 18 and givesway'before any other part of the device breaks. In practice a. s o g pull, or yank. Witha: a l h ok or rod held by the two hands is necessary to break the device. This feature of the weakenedwall-is applicable to various kinds of such seals and is claimed in my copending application Serial No. 32,048, filed June 4, 1.

1915. The cutting of the blank, folding, scoring, etc, may be done according to practices'well understood in the art of forming such li ht metal articles and requires no detailed description.

. While I have illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of these improvements, the same are susceptible of modification without departure from the spirit of the disclosure herein made, and all such changes and modifications are contemplated by me as fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A lockingseal comprising a strip of flexible material having a hook formed at one end thereof and a relatively flat box-like housing integral with said strip at the other end thereof, said housing having an opening to ,receivethe end of the strip having said hook, said housing having a transverse wall 7 integral with a portion of the housing body within the same and intermediate the ends thereof for engaging said hook interlockingly when the hook end of the strip is inserted through said opening and normally into said housing, said transverse wall having an opening through which said hook may pass.

2. A locking seal comprising a strip having one end thereof divided longitudinally and formed into a pair of books extending on opposite sides of said strip at the end thereof, the other end of said strip being formed with body portions adapted to overlie each other and to be secured together at edge portions thereof to provide a relatively fla-t housing having an opening therein for the insertion thereinto of said hooks, said housing having a transverse wall intermediate the ends thereof, said wall having an opening to receive said hooks, said hooks being adapted to spring apart after passing through the opening in said wall and to engage said wall lockingly when so sprung apart.

3. A locking seal comprising a strip of flexible material having locking means at one endportion thereof and a box-like housing integral with said strip at the other end thereof, said housing having an opening to receive the end of the strip having said locking means, said housing having a transverse wall integral with a portion of said housing within the same and intermediate the ends thereof for engaging said locking means interlocking when the end of the strip is inserted through said opening and normally within the housing, said transverse wall having an opening through which said end outward with respect to said housing.

4:. A locking seal comprising a strip of thin and flexible material having a pair of oppositely disposed hooks at one end thereof and an integrally formed housing at the other end thereof said housing having an opening to receive said hooks, and having an apertured transverse wall within the housing to engage said hooks, said housing being substantially deeper atthe end thereof opposite said opening than at, said opening whereby said hooks after passing through said opening and through the aperture in said wall and being pressed in a direction r toward each other thereby may spring away from each other materially within said hous- A locking seal comprising a strip of thin and flexible material having a hook at one end portion thereof and an integrally formed housing at the other end'portion thereof, said housing having an opening to receive said hook end of the device, an integrally formed and apertured transverse wall within said housing adapted to engage said hook lockingly to prevent retraction thereof when the hook end of the device is inserted normally into said housing and through the aperture of said wall, a wall of a said housing being indented to accommodate a portion of said Wall and hold same securely.

6. A locking. seal comprising a strip of thin and flexible material divided longitudinally at one end portion thereof and there formed into oppositely disposed hooks, the other end of said strip having body portions secured together to form a housing having an opening toward the hook end of the device, said housing having an integrally formed transverse wall apertured to receive said hooks, a wall of said housing being indented to accommodate i a portion of said transverse wall to hold the same securely, the opening in said transverse wall and the normal form of said hooks being such that when the hook end of the device is inserted in said housing and passed through the opening of said transverse wall the ends of said hooks respectively will be pressed toward the plane of the strip at the hooks, the ends of said hooks respectively being adapted to spring away from such plane after passing through the opening of said transverse wall, said transverse wall engaging said hooks lockingly when so sprung apart.

HARRY M. COOPER. Witnesses: V

T. D. BUTLER, M. M. KRrnsAND.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. G. 

